1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a specimen collection container assembly and, more particularly, to a specimen collection container assembly having improved sterility and suitable for use with automated clinical processes.
2. Description of Related Art
Medical capillary collection containers have historically been used for the collection of specimens, such as blood and other bodily fluids, for the purpose of performing diagnostic tests. Many of these capillary collection containers include a scoop or funnel for directing a specimen into the collection container. In most cases, capillary specimen collection containers are not sterile. In order to improve specimen quality, there is a desire for capillary collection devices to be sterile. In addition, there is a further desire to provide a capillary collection device in which the scoop or funnel is maintained in a sterile condition prior to use. Once a specimen is deposited within the specimen collection container, it is often desirable to maintain the specimen in a pristine condition prior to the performance of the intended diagnostic testing procedure.
In addition, clinical laboratory processes using specimen collection containers have become increasingly automated. As such, many conventional capillary specimen collection containers are not compatible with automated front end processes used to prepare a specimen for proper analysis, such as sorting specimen collection containers by type and/or contents, accessorizing specimen collection containers superficially or with additives specific to the contents of the specimen collection container, centrifugation, vision based specimen quality analysis, serum level analysis, decapping, aliquoting, and automated labeling of secondary tubes. In addition, many conventional capillary specimen collection containers are not compatible with automated analyzing procedures and are not dimensioned to accommodate automated diagnostic and/or analyzing probes or other specimen extraction equipment. Further, many conventional capillary specimen collection containers are not compatible with certain automated back end processes employed after a specimen is analyzed, such as resealing, storage, and retrieval.